And Then Comes a New Story
by iamciandie
Summary: It had been almost two generations since Harry Potter, and a new world is starting to creep in. With a new generation rising to existence comes another round of twists and turns of fate fine wizards have to face.
1. Summary

Before anything else, I must post a warning of how this is written after all seven Harry Potter books, which means I can't really avoid letting slip a couple of little spoilers in some chapters of this fic.

It had been almost two generations since Harry Potter, and a new world is starting to creep in, both in the Muggle and the Wizarding community. With new generations rising to existence comes another round of twists and turns of fate that both worlds should face once again.

This time, will the fine wizards of the same community still be able to stand their courts like they've always had, even if another of their kind, which had stayed hidden for the last few centuries, suddenly surfaces with clearly other intentions... intentions other than to mingle graciously with them? And even if the reason behind the sudden appearance of a new wizarding kind is said to be the aftermath of the rise and fall of the Darkest Wizard to have ever set foot on Earth?

With the tale of Harry's heroism against the Dark Lord still being told, begins a new magical story of unfailing heroism.

I take no credit for this. The concept is taken from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter.


	2. 1 Unlikely, she was

Chapter 1: Unlikely, she was.

The sky had just witnessed the first beam of sunlight; the city was just beginning to hear the first cheerful crows of roosters, when a couple of innocent voices were heard inside a little manor in London.

"C'mon! Erica, look!" A whisper of a young girl suddenly rung amidst the morning silence, her voice was promising and excited at the same time.

"There's barely sunlight yet, Andrea, what's there to see?" The little girl in a light blue dress sprinted a few feet behind her sister, scratching her nape, looking rather wobbly and sleepy.

"There is, come on, sit beside me." The girl, who was supposed to be Andrea, ran silently across the kitchen and approached the door, which she opened without any sign of hesitation. She stepped out silently into a stretch of green grass that was lying wonderfully underneath the sky of dawn.

Andrea smoothed her pink skirt as she looked hopefully up to the clouds, a big smile appearing sincerely across her face, before she carelessly sat on the grass, never paying attention to the moist that made her dress a bit wet. She was a really tiny girl, a lot tinier than her sister, you could tell, even from a distance.

"Okay, but promise me you'll let me go back to bed after this?" Erica sat slowly beside her, her chest rising and falling back slowly as she heaved a sigh.

Somehow you couldn't tell they were even related, they looked entirely different from each other. Erica had jet black hair with big curls—which was always untidy—and a rather fair skin, while the smaller one, Andrea, had straight brunette hair and she was unusually pale. They only had one thing in common physically… they both had bright green eyes.

"I promise." Andrea whispered without breaking her wide smile, not even looking down from the sky.

"What is it that you want me to see anyway?" Erica looked at her sister in confusion before she looked up too, trying to follow her gaze.

"Owls," she answered, finally breaking her longing gaze from the clouds. She stared at her sister, and nudged her shoulder with her elbow. "They're gonna be flying here and there soon, we just wait."

"I haven't seen a a lot of them in a while you know," said Erica, biting her lip furiously.

"Well, it is because they usually don't go flying around at any time of the year, silly, not until the last few days of August." She reasoned out, making her older sister look down to her, her eyes wide in curiosity and confusion. "Don't you remember? Grandpa Harry recently said that—"

"Oh, yes, yeah I get it. School mail. You've asked him about it billions of times already." complained Erica.

Andrea giggled silently and they both remained silent for a while before she spoke once again. "And… and we'll be getting ours any minute now—or an hour or two later—or a bit later than that—or… oh I'm excited."

"I could tell." Erica chuckled.

Andrea and Erica are both extraordinary girls, not only were they two of those who were gifted with an unusual magical ability, but they are, after all, descendants of a hero who is widely known to have saved their kind from the most dangerous man who ever lived. And merely several days from now, they'll be trained for the proper use of their powers in the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry in England—Hogwarts.

Both girls are extremely excited—or at least, Andrea is—for they never really have mingled with a lot of children of their kind. They used to attend Muggle school (Muggle is a term used for non-wizard or non-witch people) in accordance to how their father had started education. Their grandfather, Harry Potter, who is very well-known, had attended Muggle school before Hogwarts, and so did Andrea and Erica's father, aunt, and uncle. But every one of them never really looked forward to Muggle education, not after they were told they were wizards.

They were both starting to feel chilly in the midst of the first wind of dawn when a soft female voice was heard a couple of feet behind them.

"James, honey, they're here." she called to the man following behind her. He stopped beside her, both of his hands were on his waist and a grin crossed his face.

"They seem to rise earlier every morning, you think?" he chuckled to the woman beside her, his voice loud enough for both little girls to hear. They turned around to look at them.

"Mommy," Andrea stood up and hurried to her mother, whose hands were already stretched in front of her and was already bowed low enough for Andrea to hug her arms.

"Hey dad, we were just waiting for—"

"Owls, daddy, they're taking too long." Andrea frowned. James, their father, from whom Erica had inherited the color and the untidiness of her hair, pat the younger girl's head, before he went toward the older one, then he wrapped his arm around her and laid it on her shoulder.

"They're gonna come even if you don't wait for them," James looked up at the sky, which was now a lot brighter and clearer than it was a while ago.

"Oh, we can't blame the girls, James, they're excited. They want to be the first ones to meet the owls," Carmen Potter straightened Andrea's hair with her fingers. Carmen had black hair just like James' and Erica's but her eyes were bright blue, she was slender and fair, she was a beautiful woman.

"Right, but you girls can't stay here outside all morning. Let's go inside," James turned Erica around and headed back to the kitchen door. Carmen Potter, who was carrying Andrea, followed.

Erica sat on a chair and put her chin on her closed knuckles, her elbows laid on the table. Mrs. Potter left Andrea on the table, who stayed there, her feet dangling carelessly below her.

"Don't sit there," Erica said lazily.

"Mum put me here,"

"Get down and sit on the chair. They'll lay our breakfast on there, silly,"

"Don't call me silly," Andrea's eyes narrowed as she pushed herself forward and down from the table.

"You just called me the same thing a while ago outside," Erica reasoned out, waiting for a defensive response but she heard her sister's soft voice instead.

"I didn't mean it though, sorry,"

"Alright, I didn't mean it either, Andie, sorry," Erica bit her lip and sighed.

"Don't call me Andie," Andrea slowly pulled her chair backward and sat.

"What's wrong with that?"

"I never called you 'Eca' ever since you told me not too, even when everybody already calls you that."

"Fine, fine. 'Andrea' then."

"Toast and… what do you want in between them, Erica, darling?" Mrs. Potter turned around, holding a loaf and a bread knife in both his hands.

"Just cheese mum, thanks,"

"I want peanut butter, mommy!" Andrea shouted as she started to stand on her chair.

"Get down," Erica whispered softly as she pulled Andrea's skirt twice.

"You want a 'peanut butter and mummy'?" James Potter called out jokingly, but Andrea thought he was serious that she began stomping her feet on her chair.

"No, I mean, peanut and butter and I said 'mommy' because… because I was talking to mum!"

"Alright, alright, go down from your chair though, you might fall," James said, Andrea did so immediately, and she sat.

He was only beginning to reach for the cupboard over the sink when they heard a loud clunking noise from their kitchen door. Erica only seemed to have noticed what had happened when Andrea suddenly stood up and held tightly on the table before them.

"Must be the owls, children," James smiled as he walked towards the kitchen door. He opened it and saw an owl lying on the floor; an envelope was in between its beak. "Thank you," he pat the bird on the head lightly and pulled the envelope off its beak. The owl looked back and James knew it wanted a tip. "Here," he went back to Carmen, got a piece of bread, and broke half of it to little pieces. He reached for the pouch attached on its leg, and put them inside.

The owl flapped its wings once, before it turned its back on him, flying and gliding away to where it came from. James closed the door, headed to the table and laid the envelope before the two girls.

"Just one?" Erica asked, leaning forward to look at the green scribbles on the envelope.

"It's all the owl brought," James said softly, both his hands were on his waist once again.

"Oh, Erica, it's for you," Andrea smiled, but sadness were evident in her eyes. "I'll just go use the bathroom, daddy," she pushed off from her chair and hurtled behind the wooden stairs where their bathroom was.

"How come?" Erica asked, concerned, her eyes focused on the yellow envelope which had her name and their address written in green ink.

"I don't know," James went towards Carmen, who was looking at him with worried eyes like his. "Is she able, Carmen, magic?" he whispered, but Erica heard anyway because she answered.

"She is, mum, dad, even better than I am… I think," she stared hopefully at them. The couple looked back, waiting for her to say more. Realizing that she did need to say more, she continued. "She can… I saw her a couple of times, pointing her finger on stuff, and moving and lifting them here and there, and—" Erica stopped, she saw her parents' furious expression.

"Don't worry, mom, dad… she's able. Really. She's the one who's been getting us apples from the tree, she stares at the fruits and they just… fall. She'll be getting a letter too dad, any minute now…"

"Just her fingers and just—" Carmen looked at James, worry looked worse in her eyes now.

"What? Is there something… wrong about that mom? Dad?" Erica asked, starting to sense worry just the same.

"We… we can't really… perform magic without spells and wands, Erica,"

"She had been doing it a lot," she pouted.

"Have you done it, dear?" Carmen asked, her voice trembling.

"… no," Erica hesitated, she looked down on her fingers, confused. "But—but she's able, right? She isn't a squib, mum?"

Carmen shook her head. James sat beside her, biting his lip.

"I'm sending a mail to Hogwarts, there isn't anything wrong, maybe the mail was just delayed. No worries. It might arrive just as well. But she's extremely upset and worried, I should send a mail to Hogwarts, hang on." James stood up, and hurried upstairs.

Carmen merely smiled, but Erica saw there was still worry in her eyes.


	3. 2 Early unspoken precaution

Chapter 2: Early unspoken precaution.

After almost three hopeful hours of waiting, another thud was heard from the kitchen door. Just as James had promised his daughter, Andrea, to receive her mail sooner or later that morning, there was no disappointment at all.

The second envelope was identical to the first envelope that had arrived earlier. They were yellow with bright green scribbles on them, bearing the names Jane Erica and Lilian Andrea Potter. Both contained parchments which had the list of the books and some of the things they were supposed to bring to Hogwarts, the letter from the school headmistress, and the information regarding when and at what time they were supposed to board the express train that would bring them to where the school is.

As usual, the students are told to board Platform Nine and Three Quarters at the King Cross's Station on the first day of September, and that it would be leaving at exactly eleven o'clock in the morning, which meant that the Potters have just about three days to buy and prepare all of their things.

The two girls sat eagerly on the living room couch, listening intently to their father and mother's words.

"I'm sure Rose's son had already received the letter from the school like our children had, Carmen. Maybe we could all go and buy their things tomorrow." James spoke to his wife who stood keenly beside him, his voice not too soft so that their children could hear him.

Andrea made a quick leaping movement and landed on the couch with a big smile. Erica giggled.

"We're coming with you to Diagon Alley, right dad?" Erica asked, her eyes focused on the parchment his dad was holding.

"Oh yes, it is your things we are going to buy after all, and it isn't a bad idea at all if you want to come with us, unless you'd prefer not to though," James smiled at her then winked.

"Yay," Andrea whispered, her mouth hidden behind her hands. "Mommy," she removed her hands slowly and placed them on her lap, "I want to be a Ravenclaw like you,"

"Honey," Carmen and James looked at each other then chuckled, "You will, no doubt, do well in whatever House you'll be sorted in," she smiled sincerely before she and James returned back to scanning the parchments they were holding.

"And it's too early to be worrying about that you know," Erica snapped, raising both her legs on the couch.

"Look who's talking," Andrea stared at her, a smile playing naughtily on her face.

"What?" Erica stared back, her eyes nervous.

"Dad, I heard Erica telling Uncle Hugo how much she's worried about being sorted to Slytherin," Andrea said rather loudly for her dad to hear.

"Did not!" shouted Erica, looking down on her fingers, "You're such an awful eavesdropping sister," she whispered, kicking Andrea's foot, her face was notably flushing in embarrassment.

James stopped and smiled, "I was worried about the same thing too, I admit. But any House is good, you shouldn't worry much. Slytherin isn't bad at all, in fact your Uncle Albus was named after a Slytherin headmaster, did you know that?"

"Yeah," Erica sighed and paused for a moment before she continued, "But I'd rather be in Gryffindor."

"You'll be sorted to where you'll do best, don't worry." James smiled, his eyes were indisputably full of sincerity.

"I told you, Slytherin isn't bad at all," Andrea whispered to her sister whose face was still flushing furiously.

"Go be a Slytherin then," Erica snapped and Andrea sighed.

"Cheer up a little. You know, I'd really want to be sorted in the House you'll be sorted in to, to be honest." Andrea smiled and squeezed the hand of her sister, who—despite her sheer embarrassment—squeezed back instantly.

--

The sun was already shining weakly above the misty clouds when muttering voices started growing louder from the living room which was only a couple of feet below where Erica and Andrea lay resting, both on their sides, with their tiny toes showing from under their blankets.

"Andrea?" Erica pushed from her bed lightly and walked towards the other bed, her eyes barely open. She nudged the back of the little girl who still lay asleep. "Hey, come on, I can hear Jacob's and Aunt Rose's voices downstairs, it must be late."

Finally, after a couple more impatient nudges, the girl stirred, her eyes barely open as well.

"What's up with the ki-mow-shun?" Andrea lifted herself and remained seated on her bed, rubbing her eyes slowly.

Erica chortled quietly, "Uh, just listen, you'll hear something from downstairs,"

"Huh? Hey, it's not just because I woke you up early yesterday to see something, doesn't mean you should do the same, you know," Andrea pouted, suddenly going back to her previous sleeping position.

"Hey! It's not that. I wanted you listen so you could surprise yourself, but now it seems like I have no choice but to break it to you. Aunt Rose and Jacob are downstairs! I can hear them, listen…" said Erica, as she pulled off the blanket that still lay lazily on her sister's feet.

"They're here? Oh!" Andrea, who seemed to have not tried to listen to the voices at all, leaped up to her feet immediately and reached for her sister's arm.

Erica stood up immediately as Andrea ran for the door and down the stairs, her hand still clutching Erica's arm tightly. The voice grew louder and they realized there weren't only three to four people who sat waiting in the living room, the room was rather packed.

Andrea's eyes lingered around the room for a while before they stopped at the sight of a man who was seated on the armchair across the far corner of the room.

"Grandpa!" Andrea called loudly to him as she sprinted for his direction, her hands yet to release the arm of her sister, who muttered "Let me go,"

It was just then when everyone in the room noticed the presence of the two eleven-year-old girls. The man, who was sitting in the corner of the room, stood excitedly at the sight of them and held their heads close to him as soon as they have reached him.

"Oh, hey, how are you children?" he bowed down to them a bit and messed their hair with both hands.

"Grandpa, Harry," Erica muttered, her head bowing at the weight of her grandfather's hand, "You didn't tell us you'd be here," she said, eyeing the face of his grandfather.

He looked rather young and cheerful. He wore the same round glasses and—as usual—a scar that was shaped like a lightning bolt appeared barely visible on his forehead. His eyes were as green as theirs and his hair was just as black as Erica's, his smile looked gentle and excited, and everything about him just gave both girls a sense of comfort with an indescribable touch of exuberance.

"A little surprise every once in a while doesn't hurt," Harry's grin widened before he straightened up at the sight of an approaching boy, "Jacob!"

"Oy, hey Erica, Andrea!" the boy, who had light brown hair and looked almost the same age as Erica and Andrea, walked towards their direction quickly and stopped beside Harry, his eyes looking eagerly at them, "My two beautiful, but tiny, cousins," he winked.

"Hey!" Andrea said, wide-eyed at the sight of him, "You… you've grown," she said, her eyes scanning the boy in front of her, who was undeniably four to five inches taller than she was.

"Oh, well, my dear cousin, thank you," he chortled, imitating an act of bowing. Andrea giggled. "And because of that, I give you… these," Jacob straightened up, reached into his pocket, and handed five candies to her, each were randomly colored yellow, green, and orange.

"Thanks!" Andrea reached out for one and opened it without hesitation.

Erica stared at Jacob, who looked rather thrilled, and saw him wink at her. Erica raised an eyebrow, feeling rather peculiar, but it wasn't long before she finally realized what it was about.

"Oh!" Harry stepped backward and looked surprisingly at Andrea, whose nose was now dangling below her chin.

Erica stared, her jaw dropping, stepping a few steps back as well. Jacob started laughing silently behind his hands.

"That wasn't funny, Jacob—" Harry had just turned to Jacob before he was cut by Andrea's loud laugh.

"Ow! Amazing! Where did you get those?" she asked, looking rather astonished than annoyed, her hand supporting the flesh—which had been her nose minutes ago—that dangled from her face.

"Our store," he said, looking pleased at his cousin's reaction, "You know, the one Uncle Hugo had inherited from our grandfather, who is—mind you—one of the best prank-setters in the country," he winked, making a rather swaying movement, his hands both stuffed in his pocket, "By the way, those were Anti-pokey-noseys, comes in handy,"

"Cool," Andrea muttered.

"From the most boring things to the weirdest ones… they all never fail to amaze her," Erica rolled her eyes, letting out a soft laugh.

Jacob smiled. He was about to return back to the other end of the room when he stopped and pointed at Andrea's nose, "No worries, though I doubt if there are, your nose will go back to normal in three to four minutes," he said as he started walking away from them, stuffing his hand back into his pocket.

"It's good that you get along well," Harry smiled at them as he went back to sit on the armchair. "Have you started packing your things yet?" he asked, as he reached for the trunk that stood leaning on the wall just a foot away beside him.

"Yeah, it's impossible not to, everyone was excited about us leaving the house," Erica chuckled.

"Very well," Harry smiled, as he pulled out from the trunk a creased parchment which seemed to have been folded to a tiny square, "I want you two to have this," he handed the parchment to Erica, who looked rather clueless.

"What is it?" she asked, as she started unfolding it.

"It's a map," he whispered, as he started reaching once again inside the trunk which now lay on his lap, "a map of Hogwarts, you'll find it useful once you get your wands," he winked, his voice was being kept below the hearing threshold of anyone else in the room.

Behind Erica, Andrea peeped, her nose looking close to normal.

"Erica, you keep that map, and Andrea… you keep this." Harry held out a burgundy pouch bag to Andrea, who reached for it with the same look of curiosity Erica had shown earlier.

"Inside that is an invisibility cloak," he smiled at Andrea before returning his gaze on Erica.

"There isn't anything written in here," Erica whispered, her eyes examining both sides of the parchment.

"When you get your wand, tap that, and swear solemnly that you are up to no good," he said, immediately receiving a 'huh?' look from both girls. "It's what you should say for it to work for you," he laughed.

"Oh," Erica and Andrea laughed silently behind their hands.

"And when you are finished, just say, Mischief Managed."

Erica and Andrea nodded; the curiosity in their eyes was now replaced with sheer interest. Suddenly, they heard their mother calling for them, "Erica, Andrea? Your dad is calling for you from the kitchen, I think he has something to tell you," Carmen's voice was heard across the room.

"Right, we're coming mom!" Erica yelled, and before she and Andrea turned back to the kitchen, Andrea muttered, "Thank you, grandpa," to Harry.

Harry stared, satisfied, as the two girls made their way across the room, knowing he had made the right decision, because somehow, even during the very first years of his life in the wizarding world, he had already learned to take precaution at the very sense of trouble.


	4. 3 Déjà Vu

Chapter 3: Déjà Vu

Erica and Andrea entered the kitchen silently and saw their father sitting alone before the dining table. His face seemed calm but there was no smile upon his face. They stood clueless for a while before Andrea nudged her sister and motioned for them to sit as well. Erica followed. James cleared his throat silently before he began.

"Well, we'll be heading to Diagon Alley in a couple of hours and for sure the place would already be packed with people by the time we get there, most probably because of the time of the year," James looked down on his arms which rested on the table, "And I just want to make sure that the both of you won't be getting into trouble again," he slowly lifted his gaze up then looked straight into Erica's eyes for a while, before they shifted to Andrea's.  
Their eyes both narrowed in shame and Erica looked down to her foot as Andrea bit her lip guiltily, muttering, "Yes dad,"

James grinned, "I am not angry girls, I knew you had the tendency to completely lose your focus and to stray away from us the last time we went there, but I really want you to know how strict I and your mom are with this,"

Erica looked up and nodded immediately, her eyes were ironically filled with both sincerity and guilt.

"Stay close girls, always. It doesn't matter if we are meant to stay inside a shop for hours or what or if you just wanted to wander around a bit, always stay close, okay?" James explained slowly, emphasizing on every word he says, "Hold on to our hands or on the end of our coats, promise us,"

"We'll make sure dad, we promise," Andrea whispered and Erica nodded beside her.

James began to stand up, his lips twitching to form a smile, and when he saw that her two daughters had smiled back, he said "Good," in a loud manner, sudden excitement rung simultaneously with his word. He reached for the cupboard above the sink which was behind were he was sitting earlier and pulled out a small pouch, then he headed straight to the living room, walking slowly past Carmen.

Erica and Andrea stood up and looked at each other, sniggering, before they headed back to the living room where three of their cousins, together with their Aunt and grandfather, were.

---

Three hours of packing had past when everyone finally circled the fireplace. With all of their luggages ready and placed in a corner, they decided they were ready to head off to Diagon Alley.

Rose Weasley-McFarren, the rather plump woman with the bushy red and flaming hair who was also James' cousin, held Jacob's arm tightly alongside two other smaller children— a boy and a really tiny girl— and Harry was at the rightmost. Andrea and Erica stood in between their Aunt Rose and their grandfather while James and Carmen stood in the middle in front of them. James held a small bag of fine white powder.

"Who goes first?" James announced, lifting the bag of Floo Powder above his shoulder.

"I guess Jacob should go first, followed by me and my niece and nephew," Rose McFarren nodded at Jacob, who walked towards the fireplace immediately, took a handful of powder, dropped it off and vanished in an instant.

Not long after, Rose took a step forward, and so did the two children beside her. In her face crossed a friendly beam as she looked back at Andrea and Erica.

"Okay then," James motioned his arm to them then to the hearth.

The children stepped into it at once followed by Rose, who reached into the pouch of Floo Powder, and dropped it on their feet at once, saying loudly, "Diagon Alley."

They disappeared in a puff of grayish-green smoke and flames. James' eyes fixed on Erica and Andrea. Erica looked at their grandfather.

"Go ahead, I'm not going," Harry smiled at Erica as Andrea walked straight to the fireplace.

"I'll go first dad," Andrea tiptoed so as to grab a handful of white powder, and without looking back she bit her lip and stepped into the hearth. She faced them, her eyes focused on her mom, before her lips formed a grin and bellowed clearly, "Diagon Alley!" releasing the powder from her hand at the same time. She vanished immediately behind the green flames.

It wasn't long before Erica and their parents stepped out of the same hearth where Andrea had come out. It was in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the wizard books were being sold. The fireplace was inside what seemed like the storage room, and from where they all stood they could hear the voices of the people on the store. There seemed to be a lot, as they have expected.

Carmen pulled Andrea's hand to her coat. She obediently grabbed the end of it and her other hand reached out to hold onto Erica's, who already started her own way out of the storage room.

"Get your books first since we are already here in Flourish and Blotts," James said as he pulled the wooden door open, making it creak loudly enough for the shop owner to notice them come out of it.

It revealed a whole room full of bookshelves, wizards, witches, and their children, all seem to make their way through the moving lot. The shop owner's desk was circled mostly by women, most of them holding a parchment on one hand and an arm of a child on the other.  
James stopped and turned to face Carmen and the two girls, "I'll just go visit the Muggle tea shop just outside Diagon Alley, though, I have to meet with your Uncle Hugo in there, we'll be here in a while," he continued, as he strode ahead of them, making his way to the door that lead out of the shop.

Andrea was looking around, amazed, when Jacob approached them. His mother, Andrea noticed, was nowhere in sight.

"I thought we were supposed to stay close to our parents?" Andrea snapped, as Jacob stared out far into the crowd, his toes tiptoeing, as if looking for something.

"Well, not for me. I hadn't caused my mum any kind of trouble—like getting lost, for instance—while we were in Diagon Alley, so the rule doesn't really apply to me," Jacob beamed at her, Erica snickered.

"Thanks for pointing that out," Andrea rolled her eyes as the four of them made their way in between bookshelves.

"Mom, it's so hard to walk around shops if we're holding each other like this," Erica complained, as she squeezed her sister beside her, trying to avoid walking through the bookshelves.

"Better be this while aware of your way than being able to move freely when you're completely lost," Carmen whispered, tightening her grip on Andrea's wrist.

"Right," Erica sighed, dodging once again from being hit by someone's elbow.

They all stopped behind the counter where four to five lines of people stood waiting. Jacob heaved a sigh and lifted himself to his toes once again to steal a quick glance above the crowd, "This is going to take long," he lifted an eyebrow and continued, "I wish we could bump into someone we know,"

"My dad said Uncle Hugo will be here," Andrea looked around, starting to hope they will, indeed, find someone else they knew.

Jacob took a few steps forward and started looking around again, obviously taking advantage of his height.

Andrea was just starting to do the same before… "Ow!"

Jacob looked behind her and saw Andrea reaching below her robe above her socks, she scratched furiously.

"Ants," Jacob knelt before her as his eyes followed the trail of the ants, Andrea looked down as well.

The ants had one trail and it lead toward where Andrea's left foot was, and now they were climbing up her shoe to her leg.

"You hadn't stuffed expired sweets in your robe's pockets again, had you?" Jacob looked up at her, as he remained in a squatting position in front of her.

"No, these ants are simply being ridiculous at the moment," complained Andrea, who began stomping her foot on the ant trail, "I wouldn't be doing this to you if you weren't persistent on climbing up my leg," she muttered.

"Wait… Andrea?" Jacob stood up, looking behind her. Andrea stopped and looked at him, and when Jacob didn't shift her gaze to her, she turned to look at where he was looking at, and she saw nothing but a couple more bookshelves.

"What is it?" Andrea asked, stomping her foot once again.

Jacob turned his gaze on her, "Where's Erica?"

Jacob had asked Andrea the question rather loudly that Carmen looked down at them immediately, Andrea's jaw dropped at the sudden realization of her sister's absence. "I was just… I was just holding her close to me a while ago," Andrea stuttered, her head turning here and there looking for her sister.

Jacob straightened up and looked across to where the door was, "No wonder I thought she was being silent all the time, she's gone,"

And with that, Carmen pulled the both of them to the door and out, her heart and mind racing at the thought of her daughter. "Where did she think she was going again?" she asked and both Andrea and Jacob just shook their heads.

"Let's go separate ways, I'll go here Aunt Carmen, and you and Andrea can go that way," Jacob said as he shook Carmen's hand from his wrist softly, his eyes moving fast with his head as they scanned the path stretching both to the east and the west.

Just then, a big manly voice rung amidst the crowded path, "We're here!"

A large man appeared a couple of feet away from them, behind him followed James Potter. He was beaming as he made his way to the three of them, saying "There you are! We, you know, with your Aunt Cissy and your two other cousins, have been waiting for you! I think they're in Madam Malkin's shop!" he bellowed.

"Hey, have you gotten your books yet? We're going to buy robes for you immediately if you have," James said as he and the man with him had reached them.

Carmen did not respond and both Andrea and Jacob just managed to fixate a smile on their faces at the sight of their uncle, who grinned back.

"What's the matter?" James suddenly asked at the sight of Carmen, who continued to look around furiously, and not long after a short moment of silence, he asked, "Where's Erica?"  
Carmen stopped and looked at him, "She was just beside us a while ago. James, we were all holding each other when suddenly she was gone—"

"Dad, I was holding her tightly. I just had to rub my leg once so I think… I think I let go of her, but I didn't think she was—"

"It is okay honey… we'll look for her—" James tapped Andrea's head lightly as he gazed further into the other alleyway.

"We'll go with you—" Carmen started but Hugo cut him off.

"I'll go with James," he said as he put his hands inside the pockets of his jeans, he was already focused on the same direction.

"That's right, Carmen, you stay and look after Andrea and Jacob," James smiled at her weakly.

But before the two men started their way to the path that meets Knockturn Alley, a lady with a straight blonde hair emerged from the crowd, pushing a cart. A boy—who looked like he was just around fourteen or fifteen— and a young girl—who didn't look a lot younger than him—followed behind her, each helping themselves with tarts.

"Hey Janna, Arvin… there they are!" the lady spoke excitedly at the sight of the lot and headed towards them, both of the youngsters followed her eagerly.

"Anna!" Hugo bellowed, the worry in his eyes was now obvious like the way it is with the rest of the lot. "You're just in time. We need you to stay here with Carmen. James and I are going to look for something," he said.

Anna stopped before all of them, her blond hair flowing graciously behind her, her eyes fixed from James, to Carmen, and to Hugo, before she said, "Okay," with earnestness in her voice.

"James, maybe we just have to wait," Carmen started, her voice seeming weak. "Maybe she'll come back here, at this very place. Maybe she hadn't gone too far and is coming back in a short while,"

James didn't fix his attention to her but the expression on his face showed the great amount of concern he had for both his wife and his lost daughter, he hesitated for a while. "Knockturn Alley is just a couple of turns from here and we couldn't risk not looking for her immediately. If she suddenly strays to that alley without knowing what she's getting herself into, she would never find her way back to Flourish and Blotts. Don't worry Carmen, we'll look everywhere for her, we promise," he looked into her eyes and Carmen nodded.

"Who's lost?" Anna asked Hugo softly, both Janna and Arvin leaned closer to them, their faces wearing the sincere expression of worry and uneasiness.

"Erica," he sighed as he started following James who had already gone a couple of feet ahead of him.

But just not far long ahead, James stopped, peering closely into a narrow lane that stretched between two shops of sweets. Behind a big box that sat on the floor, he thought he saw the foot of a child. Without any hesitation, he hurried towards it, pulled the box away, and saw a girl lying unconscious on the floor, her black hair covering her face, and despite that James was sure that the girl who lay before him was his daughter.

Hugo bellowed behind him, "Oh dear, what is she doing in here?" James and he knelt down beside her. James lifted her from the ground and laid her onto his lap. She looked pale and weak. He cleared the hair from her face with his fingers and he began jolting her weakly, "Erica? Erica, wake up. Daddy is here, wake up." He continued nudging her on her shoulders but she didn't open her eyes, nor did she move a bit.

"Is she okay?" Hugo looked closely and touched Erica's forehead.

"I… I don't know," James hesitated.

Carmen and the rest spotted where James and Hugo had entered the lane, and knowing that something was wrong, they followed.

Carmen and Anna both took a couple of steps into the lane as they reached it while Jacob, Noah, and Jamie stayed close behind, trying to take a peek. Andrea ran toward where her father and her uncle knelt to find her sister lying unconscious on her father's lap. Her eyes widened as she knelt beside them.

"What's wrong dad? What happened to her? What happened to Erica?" she asked, her arms trembling to support herself as she leaned over closer to her sister.

"We don't know Andrea, but it looks like she had only fainted," James looked at Carmen who just returned to the look of anxiety to him.

Andrea reached for her sister's hand and squeezed it. "It's warm," she whispered to herself.

"Carmen, Anna, go find Rose and return back to our house for a while. We can come back here again tomorrow or on the other day. I think we have to take Erica to the hospital for a while, to be checked and just to be sure, we'll send you a mail immediately," James muttered as he held Erica's head closer to his chest.

"Daddy, I want to go with you," Andrea whispered, tears were starting to form in her eyes slowly when Hugo wrapped his arm behind her shoulders.

"Don't worry too much, okay? Me and your father are going to take care of her," he whispered to her ear, Andrea stared at him and she smiled.

"You promise?" Andrea asked, a tear flowed slowly down her cheek.

"Promise," he patted her shoulder lightly.

James smiled at Andrea as he began to stand up, lifting Erica slowly, letting her hand dangle below her carelessly. Andrea reached for it with both hands, clasped it lightly, and laid it on Erica's stomach, her eyes meeting her father's for a split second.

"Andrea, come on," Carmen stretched an arm and Andrea ran for it. "Tell us what happened, let us know immediately, okay?" she told James, as she felt Andrea's fingers quiver softly against hers.

James nodded. And with that, they exited the lane.


End file.
